Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1887-01-22
PREPARATION or CONDENSED MILK.
Operations In thu Three Factories In
switxerland--An Interesting Process.

Operations In thu Three Factories In
switzerland--An Interesting Process.
NJ Louis Grandeau has just published
succinct and instructive account Of
dairy farming in Switzerland. There
are, he tells US, about 1, 100, 900 head Of
cattle in Switzerland, rather more than
half of which are cows. The total guam
tity Of milk which they yield in the
course of year is 22S, 600, 900 gallons,
the daily average per COW being one and
one-quarter gallons, and the value of this
milk, estimated in English money a.
about 6 spence per gallon. is about $3.50
900 pounds sterling NJ. Grandeau then
proceeds to show how this large guam.
tity Of milk is disposed Of. In the frst
place, one-half is used for making a. 600
tons of cheese, and of this quantity ~
per cent. is thin cheese--that IS % say,
made with skim milk. The cream, taken
from the milk used in making thin
cheese goes TO make $4,000 tons 1t INIT
ter, which Is not quite enough Tor hon,s
consumption. But of cheese something
like 1000 pounds sterling worth IS ex-
ton of milk itself, and the preparation
of condensed milk, accounts Tor another
90,000,00 gallons; this amounting, with
what is converted into butter and cheese,
to So per cent. of the whole. The re
manning IA per cent. goes toward rearing
the 100000 calves which are, taking one
year with another, to he found in Swift
erland. NJ. Grandeur then goes on to
describe the operations of the Condensed
Milk company, which, with its capital of
400. 900 pounds sterling, has seven fac
tories, of which three Cham. Guin, and
Reichenbacht) ara in Switzerland.
This industry had its origin, so far as
Switzerland was concerned, at Cham,
when, in 1865. Mr.. Page, the United
States consul at Zurich, determined to
try an experiment which had been con-
Quoted successfully upon a large scale
in his own country. He had great diff
Guilty in getting any one to believe in the
possibility of success, and for the first
year or two his factory did not condense
the milk of more than 800 COWS, or
make more than 10000 pound-tins Of
condensed milk. at the present time
the Cham factory receives the milk Of
5000 cows, and turns out more than To-
900, 200 tins of milk year.
The milk is brought to the factory on
large trolleys, each holding eighty cans;
the company itself fetching the milk
from the various farms, and giving
uniform price of Ia pence per gallon
for it. Upon arriving ct the factory the
milk is passed into large reservoir
through net which acts as strainer.
This reservoir also serves as one of the
scales OF machine which weighs the
milk. After the milk has been weighed,
plug is withdrawn from the bottom
of the reservoir, and the milk runs out
into large boilers of copper, where
it is mixed with sugar of the same
weight as itself. When the sugar is dis
solved the liquid mixture runs into
vacuum boilers, where it undergoes, at
a very high temperature, the process of
condemnation. In the course OF three
hours it is reduced to about third Of
its original volume by the elimination of
water, while the essential elements of
the milk, such as fat and caseine, are
in no way affected. From the condens-
ing-boilers, the liquid mixture, which
has about the same consistency as q
fluid strip, is passed into large cylin-
ders which are constantly being inn
mersed in cold water, where it rapidly
cools. The condensed milk, when cold,
is raised by machinery into the work
shops, where it is put into metal tins,
which are Immediately sealed hermeti-
cally, and are then ready for sale. All
the cans used for bringing in the milk
are first washed out with water. then
scrubbed inside, and finally steamed,
before going back to the dairy.
The treatment Of this large quantity of
milk and the fabrication and filling Of
some $1,000 tins per diem would be inn
possible unless the greater part of the
work was done by machinery; and, from
the cutting out of the sheets Of metal
which are used for making the tins TO
the fastening down Of the wooden cases
in which the milk is sent all over the
world, all is done by machinery, a single
workman being able to solder 400 tins an
hour, thanks to the excellence Of the
machines he manages. Chicago Times.